I don’t wear a heck of a lot of colors on a day-to-day basis. I try to stick to black, white, gray and tan. But even with the basics, colors can fade. Some things – like me – get better with age, but not everything. Being able to update the color of your clothing is really useful. You can revive the colors without altering them and, sometimes, even enhance them. It takes very little effort on the budget and just a bit of elbow grease.

Supplies:

Rit Dye (You can buy the small packets or the bottles.)
Stainless steel sink (Trust me)
Sink stopper
Gloves
Salt
Bleach
Baking soda
Sponge or toothbrush

Color Releasing:

These directions can be used for basically any dying process on clothes. So if you need to revive a black T-shirt, try it out. Colors get tricky when you try to revive bright pigments. Rit gives you some basics and doesn’t always get the colors right. So make sure you don’t try to dye your favorite shirt.

First off, everything you try to revive must be washed and still wet. Yes, still wet! Colors will be even if you make sure that whatever you are dying is wet. They do not absorb as much of the pigment, but you can make it gradual or leave the clothing in dye longer.

Everyone has a pair of awesome jeans that need a dark rinse once in a while. I love the dark navy, almost black, pigmented jeans. So I actually mix the navy and black Rit dyes in my sink. Use hot water to mix in dyes. Make sure you have gloves on, and you may even want to use a large kitchen utensil to mix up your colored concoction. I test the color by dipping a paper towel square in. The color will not be as pigmented, but try to eye it out. Then, lower jeans into the dye, making sure they are completely saturated, and swirl them around every 20 minutes. Make sure all of the jeans are submerged in the dye. Leave the clothes for an hour or two. Add a bit of salt to the mix and drain. I let them sit for a while more, then toss them in the wash in the rinse and spin cycle and air dry.

Color Lifting:

Sometimes, it is nice to add a bit of dimension to some darker colors. Or maybe you want to make a T-shirt look vintage. This is really easy, but be careful of bleach.

You have to start out with your clothes damp. Fill up the sink with warm to hot water and put about ¼ cup of bleach to every 4 gallons of water. Submerge your clothing, make sure it is nice and evenly wet, and then take it out and lay on countertop.

Next, take a little baking soda and rub gently on areas where you want a distressed or color-faded look. Rub with sponge or old toothbrush. Rinse the clothing in the bleach and water and repeat as many times as desired. Once you get your ideal color fade, put the clothes in your washer and rinse and spin. Air dry, preferably in sunlight.

Jamie Burke